After a comprehensive review of the
events surrounding the mine fire at North
Goonyella that began in September
2018, Peabody Energy has released initial
learnings. High gas levels caused the
evacuation of personnel during a planned
longwall move from the No. 9 North panel
to the No. 10 North panel.

The company’s review concluded that
areas of the mine demonstrated both elevated
methane levels and elevated elevated
carbon monoxide (CO) levels following
completion of coal production in the No.
9 North panel. During the longwall move
sequence, a change in gas management
focus to reduce elevated methane levels
in the No. 9 North panel, including
changes to the mine’s ventilation system
to increase airflow, inadvertently intensified
the oxidation of coal that was likely
causing elevated CO levels.

Despite sustained efforts to manage
the oxidation from the mine surface, including
use of nitrogen to create an inert
environment within the No. 9 North panel
goaf (gob), the oxidation accelerated into a
spontaneous combustion event that eventually
resulted in the fire, the company said.
“We believe that the beginning of
the planned re-ventilation and re-entry
activities warrant a sharing of our initial
learnings at this point,” said Glenn Kellow,
president and CEO, Peabody Energy.
“We are taking multiple actions to integrate
these learnings into our practices at
North Goonyella and our other operations,
where appropriate. The goal here is clear,
to reduce the risk of such an event reoccurring
at North Goonyella or any of our
other mines in the future.”

During the incident, elevated CO detected
from within the mine indicated oxidation
of coal. Over a number of weeks,
the company worked with industry experts
and with the Queensland Mines Inspectorate
(QMI) to take extensive steps to
treat the oxidation from the mine surface,
but actions were unsuccessful, and a fire
occurred in late September.

Personnel were safely evacuated and
there were no injuries.
“While this was a highly unusual combination
of events, Peabody is making
changes in systems, processes and training,
where warranted, to put into place the
improvements needed to successfully move
forward from this incident,” said George
Schuller, president-Australian operations
for Peabody Energy. “For example, we have
already begun installing remote control
ventilation systems at mine entrances.”

Longwall production at North Goonyella
will not recommence until all necessary
modifications are undertaken, according to
the company. Peabody anticipates limited
continuous miner volumes in 2019 with
longwall production beginning to ramp up
in early 2020 with approximately 2 million
tons of sales from North Goonyella in 2020.
Peabody said it continues to progress
the execution of the multi-phased re-ventilation
and re-entry of the mine in consultation
with the QMI.